


Valar Morghulis

by direcxu



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-15 05:10:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7209071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/direcxu/pseuds/direcxu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When he looked back at her, she saw a different face; no one she should have recognized but someone she knew all the same. Arya knew she would miss him, but her place was not here.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Valar Morghulis

Arya's ship would be leaving within the hour. She watched it from the docks. The waters were still and the weather fair, and she would return to Westeros in a few days. Arya would book passage on a ship from King's Landing to White Harbor then, and sail to the north where she belonged. Where Jon was. She hoped her bastard brother had not yet fallen off the Wall.

"A girl has found a way home."

Startled, Arya whirled around to find Jaqen H'ghar standing several paces behind her. The smallest inkling of a smile curled the corners of his mouth. Arya wondered how and when he got there, and why he had let her go.

He is afraid of me, Arya might have thought. Jaqen H'ghar was never afraid. He was a true faceless man, for his face never gave anything away.

The many-faced god has been promised my face, Arya might have thought. Jaqen H'ghar would have honored that promise already. He had fooled her many times before.

"Why are you here?" Arya asked finally.

"Is Arya Stark ready to return to the western lands?"

Arya was confused, yet she nodded all the same.

"A man has taught Arya Stark many things." Jaqen continued. "To be a Faceless Man most of all. A girl should not lead a path of vengeance."

Arya thought about Lady Crane. Her face fell. She knew why Jaqen had given her the woman's name. Cersei Lannister was the first to done Arya's list. She found herself empathizing the queen from the play, understanding her sorrows and grievances. Arya had lost her own father in King's Landing, and Cersei had lost her beloved son. Death was such a cruel, horrid thing. It made people go mad. Perhaps that was what happened to the Waif. She would have loved to see Arya dead, yet the many-faced god had received her face as a gift instead.

"I'm not looking for revenge," Arya said. "I want to find my sister and brothers, if they're still alive." She yearned to see Sansa and Bran and Rickon, but it was Jon she thought of most. She wanted him to muss up her hair like he always did, and call her "little sister". She wanted to tell him how much she missed him, and he would say it at the same time, the way they always used to say things together.

"A man will not forget Arya Stark of Winterfell." Jaqen H'ghar slipped his hand into a pocket and offered her something small and round. "If the day comes when you must find me again…"

Arya took it in her hands and turned it over. An iron coin.

"Valar morghulis," Jaqen finished.

"Valar dohaeris," Arya said back.

The man smiled. He turned away, but when he looked back at her, she saw a different face; no one she should have recognized but someone she knew all the same. Arya knew she would miss him, but her place was not here.

"Farewell, Arya Stark."


End file.
